Nauvoo Week 29 (June 27 - 3 July 2016)

Nauvoo Week 29 (27 June – 3 July 2016)

What a wonderful week I had.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Tom could have stayed for the week.  This is the week that we drove to Scott and Malia’s so that I could help them with their new little arrival Ruby Rae. 

We arrived on Sunday and Tom stayed overnight and headed back to Nauvoo on Monday morning.  When we got there Malia and Corby brought Ruby to me.  She is so tiny and her features so sweet I was awestruck, not to mention all of her beautiful black hair!  Pictures don’t do her justice she is a doll.  She was a little over a week old.  The pictures that we had seen on line made her look so much bigger!  She was born three and a half weeks early and weighed 5 lbs. 11 0unces and was 18 inches long.  She lost some ounces as they normally do.  So they had to take her in for weight checks that week.  She reached her birth weight around Thursday so that was a good sign.  Malia had to wake her up and feed her every four hours after that.  She has been a great baby.  We were all praying for that as Corban had been quite difficult.  Corban seems fine with her.  He doesn’t pay a lot of attention to her, but every so often he will pat her and give her a kiss. 

He seems so big now compared to Ruby! 

On Monday we went to Scott’s business to see it. It wasn’t finished the last time we were there.  It’s really nice and I mentioned that I would like to try contacts some time.  So I was able to get some to try.  We went to lunch at a Pizza place.  Everywhere we would go with the baby people would stop and comment what a beautiful baby she is.  Corb and I were best buds and we went outside and played and set up his swimming pool and had fun in it.  Corban loves cars and he lines them up every day and races them over and over!  He knows all of their names and he takes it very seriously!  I had a lot of time to hold Ruby, who would curl up in a little ball and was so fun to cuddle with.  I could have looked at her all day, with her little expressions on her face and her stretching her little arms and legs.  I’m not sure how Malia does it with so little sleep, but occasionally she would lay down when she was sleeping in the day.  I realized that I had not had that opportunity to hold and cuddle the last five grandbabies, because we were gone.  I did get to hold Bryant for a little bit before we left for the Marshall’s but that was it.  I am so grateful that being here in Nauvoo we are so close that we could drive there and have this special opportunity.  We even went to a beach in Wisconsin on Saturday.  So Ruby has gone a few places in her first weeks.  We also went to church on Sunday.  Corban fell asleep on the way to church, and they just laid him on the bench where he slept the whole time.  Ruby slept the whole time too.  The ward members were excited to see her.  Tom came back that Sunday and it was great to have him there again. We were there on the fourth of July.  We went to a park in Lake Zurich where Scott’s business had a booth promoting their store.  We stayed about an hour and then went back home.  Later on we had Chicago deep dish pizza that was really good.  When it was time for the fireworks we went outside.  Corban had been playing out back and they had gone over to the neighbor who lives next door.  They had a boy and girl 6 and 7 who were delighted that we all came over.  They made us s’mores and probably took out every game or toy they had in the garage in case we wanted to play be entertained!  We watched the fireworks with them and had a good time.  The next day we had to leave to go back to Nauvoo, a very hard day for both of us.  I’m sure that no matter how long we could stay it wouldn’t have been long enough.  We are so grateful that all went well through the birth of our 14^th grandchild.  She is truly a miracle baby and such a sweet addition to our family.  We love all of our grandchildren and feel that they are all unique and special.  So thankful that the Lord blessed us with wonderful children and their spouses who are such a good influence on their children’s lives. 

On Monday (June 27^th), Tom returned to Carthage IL for the commemoration of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum.  They had a special program with the Nauvoo Brass Band and the Young Performing Missionaries.  It was wonderful and they said there were more people that attended this year than ever.  Tom was also invited to Elder & Sister Curtis’ for lunch and to Elder & Sister Brown’s for dinner during the week.  He really appreciated this and it cut down on his “junk food” intake.  

On Saturday, July 2nd, Tom had the special privilege of sealing a Marshallese husband and wife together and then their 4 children.  It was a special day and even though Tom doesn't speak Marshallese the spirit was very strong.  Colage Rankin, who had translated for Tom many times in the Marshall Islands, has moved to Debuque IA and was in attendance.  Tom would say a paragraph of the Sealing ordinance and then Colage would read it from the Marshallese Sealing card.  It was funny, at first he could not read the card without glasses; there were about 5 people in the group that had glasses, he tried them all on but he could not read the card.  Finally, Tom said to try his and he said they were perfect.  Tom was glad the names of the people to be sealed were in 1/2" letters se he could read them for the ceremony.  It was truly a delight and even the children were touched and had tears in their eyes.  The gospel plan, with all of its' Priesthood Ordinances, is very reassuring as we live our lives here on this earth.  Tom is grateful to have the privilege of having the Sealing Authority and the blessings that come with this responsibility.

We love you all and pray daily for your well-being, and are so excited that each of you will and have spent time with us here in Nauvoo. 

Love,

Mom & Dad/Nana & Papa/Elder & Sister Shaw